Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/146688
SHOW Cologne 1992 Race Through The Streets • Best of The West Series Points • • AMA Sanctioned I 037 Points. • • • Free Camping • • • Quad Riders must be 16 or older • Deadman's sw~ch required on Quads • Spark Arrestor & Green Sticker Required • Minors must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian to enter race • Absolutely no play riding • Team Race offering Purse + 75% payback (one bike & two riders) • (Right) The "budget" Bimota DB2 features the Ducati 900SS engine. (Below) BMW displayed their new eight-valve, 90 hp Boxer engine. (818) 332-1573 Mail entry opens Sept. 1 & closes Oct 15 Saturday October 31st Sunday November 1st 9:00 Kids Ride 8:00 Unclassified 9:15 Quads 10:30 Sr./Super Sr. 11 :45 Vet.lEx.lAm: 1:00 Vet.lNov.lBeg. 2:15 Team Race (one Bike & Two Riders) to have. It is much more a big brother of the Japanese-market CB400 Super Four than of the CB750 on sale in Europe. This is a bike, we were promised, with blood in its veins, a bike that is trying to evoke..lhe heyday of the litre bike. It's based around the CBRlOOO motor because the designers think that this sort of Honda has to be an across-the-frame four. The lack of fins or chrome on the motor is deliberate, this is a no-frills motorcycle, and a modern one not an imitation of a '70s machine. Significantly, one of the designers' objectives was to build a bike that would appeal to customers in Japan, Europe and the U.S. Max- (12 yrs. & underlO·8Occ) 10:00 VinJClassic SidehacklDual Sport 11:15 Open All (251cc & up) 12:30 Worn. & 0·175cc 1:4525ccAIl Competition Schedule Date Club Nov. 8 So. Cal MlC Location: Lucerne Valley Info: Event Hare & Hound Road & Dual Sport Schedule Info: (818) 249-2141 Date Nov. 15 Nov. 22· Club Event Abate MlC Awareness Day Location: Info: Bill (213) 932·12n Road ACC Unlimited Location: Info: Road Nov.27-28 LA B to V Location: Info: Nov'. 1 Road Chaparrals MlC Dual Sport Location: San Bernardino Mountains Info: (818) 791-1913 Duill Sport Nov. 14·15 Team Dual Dogs Location: Las Padres National F;orest Info: (818) 701-1913 Nov. 27-28 District 37 Location: LA Barstow to Vegas Info: (818) 249-2141 Dual Sport Nov. 30· Dec. 1 Dual Sport Team Dual Dogs Iron Dog 1000 Location: Info: (818) 701-1913 800·831·2220 ('all '101.1. FI{EE for \It'mlwrship Information T( )J)\'~ 800 AMA 38 JOIN AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION imum torque of the 'retuned' as opposed to detuned motor has been dropped from 8500 rpm to 6000. Should be fun. The XRV750 dispenses with most of its off-road pretensions to produce a bike, to quote the press blurb, for the concrete' jungle. The seat height has been lowered by 15mm, the seat and tank narrowed and the fairing shortened to make the bike much less cumbersome at low speeds and less intimidating for short-legged riders. The engine remains the same, but the frame, bodywork and tank 'are all new. If you're looking for new technology, and you usually look to Honda for that, you should check out the Dual Combined Brake System on the 1993 CBRIOOO. Externally, the CBR has a sharper-nosed fairing with indicators faired in under the headlamp, but it's the brakes which are really interesting. Each of the three discs is gripped by a three-piston caliper. The front brake lever operates the outer two of pistons on each of the front calipers, but the left front caliper is rotated about its lower mounting by braking torque and operates a secondary master cylinder, which then transmits braking pressure . to the outer two pistons of the rear caliper. The secondary hydraulic circuit takes in a proportional control valve which adjusts braking pressure in three s_teps depending on input pressure. The brake pedal acts directly on the center piston of the rear caliper and the center pistons of the front two calipers, and the front left caliper then activates the secondary master cylinder and - via the proportional control valve - the outer piston of the rear caliper. Right next to the Kawasaki stand was a company that had been to Cologne once before: Triumph. Cologne 1990 was the first time anyone anywhere saw the new Triumphs· in public, this year Triumph's stand attracted more interest than anyone else's. When the British firm first launched their range, the bikes were rather close in identity and lacking confidence - almost apologetic - in styling and image. The bikes Triumph showed at Cologne are spread more evenly across the biking spectrum from an out-and-out sportster - the bright yellow Daytona - to the retro Tridents which now sport paint schemes taken direct from the '70s. Press praise of the customer reaction to the long-stroke versions of the modular three and fourcylinder motors means the only shortstroke motor to survive is in the 750cc Trident. . The other major complaint was the untidy look of the left-hand side of the unfaired motor. That has been addressed with judicious use of plastic covers, helped by a black crinkle finish for the engine and exhaust headers. The seat has been lowered and the rider's and passenger's footrests moved both downwards and forwards. The paint schemes are wonderfully evocative: black with either cream or red panels on the tank, or red with black panels, all with the Triumph logo in gold on the detail color. The new look immediately struck a chord 'with anyone who remembered the original Tridents. There is now a half-faired version of" the Trident, the Sprint, with a curvaceous twin-headlight fairing and a charcoal finish for the engine, frame and wheels. The rebirth of the British cafe racer? The Daytona 900 gets a much sportier look with upswept silencers and a bolt-on cover for the passenger seat. It may be the same bike as the Trident underneath the fiberglass, but the Daytona now looks like a real sportster and something even . more hard edges is promised for the British Show in December. Another old Triumph name is resurrected with the Tiger, another version of the Trident, this time in the style of the Africa Twin and Super Tenere. Not even the factory is pretending you can take the thing off road, but the substantial fairing and relaxed riding position should make it a great all-rounder. The Tiger gets a 'retuned' motor, peak power is down from 100 to 85 bph and torque is up 2.2 pounds to 82. Sounds like keeping the front wheel down could be difficult. Ironically, British punters will not be able to buy the Tiger because the plastic fuel tank is illegal under British law. We will have to 'wait until 1993 for the new BMW Boxer, but BMW showed the new flat-twin engine. It's an eight-valve, IIOOcc design making 90 bhp at 7200 rpm and 70 ft. lb. of torque at 5500 rpm and will be fuel injected and have a fully-controlled catalytic converter. The valves are operated by short pushrods driven off camshafts which are carried below the valves; the camshafts are chain driven: It's a design very close to the Dr. John's Guzzi, and indeed the RM Riley my dad used to drive in the '50s. On their home turf, BMW also . showed the new KIlOORS. The old KIOO is equipped with the KI motor the LT version got last year, plus a totally new set of bodywork, complete with those fashionable slats, claimed to give improved leg protection. The other f\ew BMW is the R80R, an 800cc version of'the RIOOR retro bike that sold so well in Europe this year. The most cheerful stand was KTM's, presided over by the giant figure of Heinz Kinigadner, the ex-World MX Champion. The Austrian firm is back from bankruptcy with its eye firmly on the dual-purpose, or street enduro, market Accordingly there will be an EGS version of the 350, 400 and 550cc EXC four-stroke enduro machines KTM is selling in '93. EGS versions get higher gearing, 20mm less travel on the White Power suspension at eithe~ end, and proper pillion accommodation. EXC versus KDX should be a good test for '93. Just to emphasize their interest in tarmac machinery, there was a prototype Battle of The Twins bike on the KTM stand complete with fuel injection. I don't know if the Japanese are at all worried by KTM's V-twin, but there was another V-twin hiding on a small stand that most certainly should have them worried. It was another largecapacity prototype V-twin. And it was "Made in Taiwan." £N